Category Archives: Department of Defense

Common Sense? Where did you go?

Grandma P and I were fortunate in completing a 15-day Alaska cruise in August. The scenery in the 49th state is phenomenal. It is the cruise everyone should take. Our cruise aboard a Princess ship was exceptional, as always, except for one issue. We were still required to wear masks in public areas. And anyone who tested for covid was isolated in a deck 12 balcony suite. (This was not a perk as they could not leave their rooms for the entire cruise!) There were some cases, but the number was very low. Maybe 17 cases with 2200 people on board. I will not go into the draconian measures the cruise lines have to perform if the rate exceeds 1% of the total number of people on board. You have heard of some of them, cruise ships returning to port, cruise lines canceling cruises, cruise ships being sanitized.

Of course, all these draconian measures were to assure the public safety. In the past two years, the CDC and the US government could not do enough to sledgehammer the cruise lines into governmental compliance. So, with this little story as an introduction, here is my question. If for the past two years the government is so concerned about Covid, why are we letting illegal immigrants across our southern border with an estimated positive Covid rate of 18%. 18 frickin’ percent! If the government was so concerned about Covid and its effect on the citizenry, would they not have stopped a mass introduction of the disease via illegal immigrants? Does that display common sense?

College Tuition Proposal

Don’t you just love it when your government makes you feel like an idiot? What I am referring to is the proposal for $10,000 in student loan forgiveness. Was I an idiot or what! I worked parttime during my college years, oftentimes holding two parttime jobs. When summer break occurred, or any break between semesters occurred, I went full time. I ran out of money after my first year of college, and even though my parents could have contributed some, I did not want to ask. Call it pride. Call it stupidity. Call it parenting that taught me to be independent, but I paid for myself and completed by college experience without a loan. During my college career, no one went to Florida, Mexico or the Bahamas for spring break. After all, if you were a male and flunked out of school, you could visit Viet Nam for free for at least one year, all courtesy of the U.S. military.

I am not totally opposed to providing $10,000 in loan forgiveness. As a matter of fact, I would encourage it under the following conditions:

  1. The money is granted for income earning degrees. Teachers, nurses, doctors, dentists, business majors, etc. If your degree is Greek Mythology, Basket weaving or underwater bird calls, you don’t get it. Talk to your parents about bad choices.
  2. Colleges reduce tuition. Yup. Quit overpaying professors that teach three hours a week and quit building buildings that look like chrome donuts. Put the money inside the building and not in the building.
  3. Double the cost of obtaining a law degree. We have to many damn attorneys and many of them become bad politicians. Just look at our Congress.

But what provision is made for those attending vocational schools, where every program is an income earning profession? Have you hired an electrician, plumber or carpenter lately. I hold my breath that nothing happens to one of my vehicles for fear of what it would cost to repair, with such a huge shortage of auto mechanics. Not everyone is cut out for college or wants to go to college. And, as mentioned, many college degrees are a big waste of money. Here again, just look at Congress. How many members of Congress can you name as the ‘best and the brightest’ in the land? Maybe a handful, but there are 535 members!

It is about time that the younger generations that think everything should be handed to them should learn two things: 1. Your parents are paying for it. 2. The working public is paying for it while politicians are attempting to buy your vote with these ludicrous proposals! Don’t you find it interesting that high school and college students are predominately liberal, but once they get a good paying job and pay taxes, they become conservative? The chickens come to roost, but unfortunately a large segment of our population has figured how to get another chicken’s eggs for free. Common sense. Nothing is free!

Illegal Immigration

Apparently, all those attorneys that are now in Congress never read the chapter about the ‘definition of the word illegal.’ If you smile and smirk every time you hear about another group of illegal immigrants being transported by the governors of Texas and Florida to a blue state, I know you are a Republican. But here is the irony. The federal government and some blue state attorney generals are attempting to find a way to stop the governors from transporting those illegals. Okay. I have a sure-fire solution to this problem…. STOP THE ILLEGALS FROM CROSSING THE BORDER! Much like the gunfighters at the OK corral who ran out of ammunition, the governors would not have illegal immigrants to transport if they were not there. Case closed. Common Sense. But yet, not enough common sense to protect our borders. Wow.

Civil Liberties

By now, everyone is familiar with Derek Chauvin. Derek Chauvin was the 19-year veteran Minneapolis police officer that was sentenced to 22 1/2 years for violating George Floyd’s civil liberties. Chauvin was an experienced policeman that knew George Floyd and knew of Floyd’s physical capabilities. So, I would love to hear a response to this question, “If someone is deliberately breaking the law, are they not relinquishing their civil liberties?” After all, isn’t a crime, regardless of what it is: robbery, murder, rape, passing counterfeit money, all uncivil acts? I think Chauvin should have been punished, but not by a kangaroo court, televised, in an extremely biased location. And, did not George Floyd perform an uncivil act by passing counterfeit money? He broke the law. The shop owner thought so and called the police. He did not call a politician, or a lawyer, or a Minneapolis city councilman…he called the police. And the police, as is their job, responded. What kind of society would we have if the police did not respond. What kind of court system do we have that blew off the fact that Floyd had two illegal substances in his body and did not die by suffocation, as determined by the Hennepin County Coroner. But the die (pardon the pun) was cast, and Chauvin had to pay, and the Federal court had to step in to assure he received the maximum punishment by charging Chauvin with the violation of George Floyd’s civil liberties. Common sense tells me that George Floyd surrendered his civil liberties when he performed a crime and he killed himself by being drug addled.

It has been a bad year for the police in Minnesota. Do you remember Kim Potter? You will when I tell you that she is the suburban Minneapolis police officer who was reaching for her taser during a traffic stop and instead pulled her gun and killed a young black man. She is serving two years in prison after being charged with first- and second- degree manslaughter. In the heat of the moment, she made a fatal mistake.

But is justice always equal? If justice were truly equal, why is Alec Baldwin footloose and fancy free after making the fatal mistake of shooting and killing an actress on a movie set. He made a mistake. He is free and no one has gone to jail for the death of Halyna Hutchins.

I hate to draw comparisons on these three crimes, but here it is. Both of the victims in the Minnesota crimes were black. Both officers involved were white and are in prison. Both crimes received national attention. Alec Baldwin is white as was his victim. After a large media bomb, it has gone away, and no one has been punished for the crime. Why is that? Did the two police officers receive disproportionate sentences because the victims were black? Common sense fails to answer that question. But common sense tells me that because of the staffing issues with police departments everywhere, the caliber of the people applying to be police will be lowered. Did you know that police from the suburbs surrounding Minneapolis will not pursue law breakers into the City of Minneapolis for fear of being arrested themselves.? That reality provides society with a demented type of law protection. Egads!

Common sense tells me that these major cities better pull their collective heads out of their asses, and support the police, arrest, prosecute and incarcerate criminals and protect society. Isn’t that the principal purpose of government?

PS. My blog site was offline for over four months. My Houston nephew finally broke the code to get it operable. This blog is dedicated to Al from Hutch who convinced me to get off my Polish ‘dupa’ and write a blog. Good reading, Al.

WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF COMMUNIST AMERICA!

You probably did not notice, but I have not written a blog for 5 months. The reason? I always attempt to write something interesting, factual, and entertaining. But I am so appalled by the current events taking place in this country and in the world, I am suffering from ‘writer’s block’ when it comes to writing anything humorous. Thus my 5 month hiatus.

Hunter Biden’s laptop

A couple of weeks ago, Representative Matt Gaetz was questioning the deputy director of FBI intelligence as to where the Hunter Biden laptop is located. His response? “I don’t know where it is.” Say what? I have lost ink pens. I have lost some loose change in sofa cushions, but I have never lost anything as large and expensive as a laptop computer. But luckily for the FBI, and for the American public, Rudy Guliani made a copy of the information on that laptop. According to sources, this laptop contains child pornography, taped sex acts, business transactions with foreign companies, and more importantly, emails linking many of these foreign money producing transactions to his father, the POTUS. So, Hunter, if you need a copy of the information on your computer, see Rudy, because the FBI lost your laptop.

I want to give credit to the former POTUS, Donald Trump, in that he deserves an “I told you so” moment. He forewarned us before the last presidential election of Hunter Biden’s schemes and about the damaging information on Hunter’s laptop. What was the national media explanation? The media accused Trump of political maneuvering before the election, and the Hunter Biden laptop was a myth promoted as “Russian intelligence disinformation.”

Yet, three former Hunter Biden partners are in prison or awaiting prison. Everyone has heard of Tony Bobulinski. He was the first to testify before the House Intelligence Committee about the monies that were earned by Hunter in China and the Ukraine, with 10% going to then Vice President Joe Biden. Bubulinski said that Joe Biden was referred to as ‘the Big Guy. Who was the chair of that intelligence committee? None other than Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA). Schiff did his best to bury and discredit the testimony by Bobulinski. (I still have difficulty using the words Shiff and intelligence in the same sentence!) This is the same Adam Schiff that got hours of TV attention by stating he had iron clad proof that Donald Trump colluded with the Russians. He never produced that proof, but he got hours of camera time saying he did. Have you heard of Bevan Cooney or Devon Archer? I never heard of Cooney, but I have heard of Archer. Well…they are both in prison, and they were both partners in Hunter Biden’s Chinese dealings as officers in shell corporations. Cooney even turned over 28,000 emails concerning the Biden/Chinese connections. Do you think that Cooney and Archer may be a little miffed by being in prison while Hunter Biden is not? The first of two questions is this: Why is FOX news the only network covering anything concerning Hunter Biden, and all the other liberal media has no coverage of the story? Like one FOX pundit said, “the Hunter Biden story is a Pulitzer just waiting to be claimed.” But no one from the media is researching or covering it. The Nixon presidency was brought down by investigative reporting. Apparently investigative reporting is only done on conservatives. But here is question 2: Has this whole Hunter Biden affair affected decisions by his father?

(As an aside, the Steele dossier has been proven to be total fiction, paid for by the Clinton campaign. The Clinton campaign accused Donald Trump of colluding with the Russians, when in actuality, it was the Clintons! Score another, “I told you so” for Trump.)

Recent White House decisions.

Why did the White House not pursue the cause or the origination of Covid? It obviously began in China, even with the extensive Chinese disinformation campaign. Were we not aggressive in the pursuit of this knowledge because of the Biden/Chinese business dealings? Who was funding Wuhan? The United States lost almost 1 million people to Covid!

I am old enough to remember all of the requirements placed on auto manufacturers when the number of vehicular deaths went over 30,000 per year. In the fifties, when the driver hit the brakes, everyone in the front seat (no seatbelts!) could expect a mouthful of a dash constructed with the finest American steel! Now…padded dashes, shoulder and seat belts, collapsible steering wheels, air bags….you get the picture. Most of this because the vehicular death toll exceeded 30,000. So why have we not done anything about the 100K+ deaths a year from drug overdoses? It is no secret that fentanyl is responsible for many of these deaths, yet we allow thousands of pounds of Chinese manufactured fentanyl to cross our southern border illegally. It is estimated that drug and human traffickers on our southern border are making $100 million per week! So much fentanyl has crossed border, that the price is actually going down! (The only product during this administration that has gone down!) Why has the White House not castigated the Chinese government about fentanyl manufacture? Why have we not closed our southern border to human and drug trafficking? Are these decisions because of the Chinese/Biden connections?

Our response to the Russian saber rattling involving invading the Ukraine was late and insufficient. We should have provided the Ukraine with weapons and equipment much earlier. More importantly, we should have been mustering and leading our NATO/European allies to assist the Ukraine and to agree on economic sanctions in the event that Russia invaded the Ukraine. None of this occurred. Why? Firstly, for whatever reason, we did not take the lead. Secondly, many of our supposed NATO allies do not want to place economic sanctions on Russia. As a matter of fact, in the past, some of our allies have used just such situations to make money. Need an example? When we invaded Iraq during the first Iraqi war, we learned that the Germans were building Sadam Hussein’s palaces, bunkers, and tunnels. We learned that the French were providing the expertise to run his oil wells. Thus, their hesitancy to invade Iraq. So much for sanctions. But the Europeans have become dependent on Russian oil. Trump criticized the German government for their dependence on Russian oil. But Trump also got the United States into the position of being not only energy independent, but also an energy exporter! (Remember $1.79 gasoline?) So, how does the current administration handle this energy crisis? Well, rather than getting all techie on you, just go fill up your gas tank. Just at the time that Europe could use any fuels we could export to them so they could stop buying from Russia, (Tesla’s will not heat your house.) we close down our own energy drilling and transportation resources. If Green Deal advocates think that the tanks and trucks in the Ukraine are running on batteries, you better think again. We could be assisting the war effort, and placing more pressure on Russia, if we could provide oil and LNG to the Ukraine and to our allies in Europe. Why not? Is this not a large enough event to place our country on at least some semblance of a war footing, or are we more concerned about Teslas? Is our hesitancy to take advantage of our natural resources because of Biden/Ukraine ties, Biden/Russia ties, Biden/Chinese ties or are we just flat-ass stupid. And to further the ‘stupidity’ theory, the White House wants to purchase oil from Iran and Venzuela! (Does this government have an aversion dealing with democratic countries?)

Now that I have you in a pessimistic pissy mood because of my blog, I am now going to write about the bad scary stuff!

China is watching! China is watching what is happening in the Ukraine. China is watching for the US/NATO response to the Russian invasion. China is monitoring what the economic sanctions are doing to Russia. China is observing the effectiveness of the Russian military men and equipment versus the Ukranian resistance. China is evaluating the United States ability/willingness to muster a successful coalition with NATO/European allies. China is estimating how effective/willing the United States would be in defending those countries with which we have mutual defense pacts. Why? Because China wants to invade Taiwan! I believe the Chinese believe our US response would be weak because of the Biden/Chinese connections. The Bidens have taken more money from China, than any other country. If Russia would have successfully overrun the Ukraine in two weeks, the Chinese may have already invaded Taiwan. I believe the only thing stopping them now is the Ukrainian resistance, and the amount of men and material the Russian military has lost. Putin is losing support at home and losing support for the war, and that has to be uneasy for the Chinese Communist Party. If this country does not get serious about the Chinese intentions concerning Taiwan, the Ukraine situation will look like a picnic in the park in comparison.

There was a Chinese authority on TV this morning claiming that the Chinese openly brag that they control the politics in the United States, and that the United States has virtually become one of their ‘provinces.’ Have we become a Chinese province? Are they claiming this because of the Biden/Chinese connections affecting our relationships with China or because they have infiltrated our society and politics with their financial and technological superiority? Either way, it does not paint a pretty picture.

This country has spent $6 trillion on Covid. This administration, in 16 months, has increased our national debt to $30 trillion. When George W. Bush left office, it was $5 trillion. Inflation? Up 8%+, gas prices are up double. We are not protecting the sovereignty of our country at the southern border. We are losing 100k+ of our citizens every year to drug overdose. We have shirked our responsibility to lead a coalition against the bad-asses of the world. And…..we have a country claiming that our country has become one of their provinces! Welcome to the United States of Communist America!

There you have it, a pissy blog from a pissed off American.

I AM TIRED!

I am tired! No, I had a good night’s sleep. What I am getting tired about is what is happening to our country. When younger, I was sure we lived in a democracy and I was proud to be American. However, I am not sure about our democracy today! Our political system is fraudulent, filled with power and money hungry politicians, and making decisions that may destroy our way of life. We have faced four years of a president that is trying to make good decisions for this country, but he has faced every possible roadblock to his success. Just think what could have been accomplished had our government focused on governing instead of impeachment, destroying a Supreme Court Justice, the Steele Dossier, the pandemic, and too many destructive paths to mention.

Who is not tired of the pandemic? OMG! As of this writing, a day after the beginning of the new year, there are still so many questions surrounding this pandemic. Like you, I have become really tired about conflicting opinions about how and where it began, and how it is spread. It was not uncommon that people of my age have gotten the flu at least once or twice during their lifetime. Granted, we did not have a fancy name for it, such as COVID 19. It was just called the flu. And….it really made you sick. If you were unfortunate to get the flu, as I was at least twice, you stayed at home. The symptoms were: high temperature, coughing, lung congestion and the general all-around feeling that you had a gigantic body ache. The one thing that did not occur, was that the government did not shut down the economy, or send me money for missing work. Before I go any further, and receive death threats for being an idiot, I want to clarify that I do believe that COVID 19 is a real disease that can cause death, if you are high risk and have underlying conditions or are elderly. But guess what? Many of the other flus that we had did the same thing. Occasionally, a healthy person succumbed, as did many elderly.

I am tired of the draconian measures that have been taken, by the government, to stop the spread of the virus. The one fact I do know, is that it has never been proven that restaurants are ‘super spreaders’ of the disease. Fortunately, Grandma P and I live in a state where the restaurants are allowed to remain open. We try to patronize these restaurants at least twice a week, just to keep them open. Some of these restaurants have suffered hurricane damage as well, so they have suffered a ‘double whammy.’ During our last visit, we were seated so that there was a reasonable distance from other tables, and, as soon as one table was vacated, a masked server sanitized the table and chairs. Common sense was displayed by the restaurant, and by the patrons.

I am really getting tired of politicians that believe that rules and laws are for the electorate, but they are exempt from the rules. While closing down all the restaurants in California, the governor has a multi-thousand dollar meal, paid for by a lobbyist, at a swanky restaurant! Thankfully, the electorate in California are beginning to wake up, and petitioning for his recall. Unfortunately, Gavin Newsom is not the only politician that sees himself as privileged. His aunt, Nancy Pelosi, had a hair appointment in a supposedly closed beauty parlor. All of this was caught on camera. There are other examples of ‘politician privilege’ everywhere, while the general population is regulated and punished for the same behavior.

I am tired and concerned about the amount of foreign influence and money that has corrupted our elections. You don’t believe that foreign governments are not dumping millions, and billions of dollars into our elections? Just look at the upcoming Georgia election for two US senators. There is an estimated $500 million being spent on that campaign. $500 million! If that much is being spent there, how much do you think was spent on the 2020 election? Where did that money originate? I have a pretty good idea that billions of dollars are coming from China…which segues into my next paragraph.

I am tired of the media reporting stories that are 97% negative about Donald Trump and his presidency. Beyond his crass and brass personality, and his seemingly unending tweets, Trump had bushels of accomplishments for the benefit of our country. I can name at least 10 things that his administration accomplished from memory in his four years. (What has Biden accomplished in his political career? Pelosi? Shumer? I rest my case!) The media glorified the Steele dossier. They supported Trump’s impeachment, supposedly because Chuck Shumer had myriads of facts to support his impeachment. Facts that just never seem to appear, but were given more credibility than Moses receiving the ten commandments. The Democrats got nasty and created lies to denigrate and discredit the Trump Supreme Court nominees. The accusation that Brett Cavanaugh was the leader of a ‘teenage gang of rapists,’ was a clear indication of how low in the manure pile the Democrats will shovel. Have you ever wondered who owns these media outlets?

I am tired of social media, supposedly representing open forums, from censoring what is on their social platforms. Hunter Biden issues were censored, because they claimed there wasn’t any proof. Yet, the Steele dossier, and fictitious Shumer accusations against Trump were allowed freely. Unbiased? Not in a million years. And unfortunately, 65% of all Americans get their news from the intranet. This blog is being censored, as the comments on the last three blogs have not been published. A coincidence, since this all began two months before the election?

I am tired (and concerned) that a member of the House Intelligence Committee is still on the committee after having a lengthy affair with a Chinese spy. Nancy Pelosi’s driver was a Chinese spy. How much of our government have the Chinese permeated? There is one sure thing that Donald Trump did accomplish. I’ll explain. The Chinese are a very patient people. They, unlike Americans who require instant satisfaction, play the long-term game. The Western world, led by us consumer-driven Americans, have made China wealthy over the last 50 years. (See the 4/11/2020 blog: Were we in Africa, or Were we in China.) China likes being wealthy. They will use that wealth to rule the world economically, technologically and militarily. They will do all of this without having a “cum by yah’ sing- along at the UN, because they want to rule the world and don’t care one bit about globalization. But unexpectedly, along comes a political surprise by the name of Donald J. Trump. What does Trump do? Well, he passed tax credits which made it economically feasible for American companies to bring their manufacturing jobs back to the US. He drastically lowered the unemployment in America. He lowered the number of people on welfare. When American companies did not respond, he threatened to put tax levies on their goods manufactured outside the US. He renegotiated a more favorable trade agreement with China, (He also did the same with Canada and Mexico.) He did what was right for America! But you know what else he did? He pissed off the Chinese. Now they were not getting as rich as before Trump. They also observed that the US was rebuilding their military. The US is now the only major hurdle between China and world domination, which I suspect may occur within the next 20 years, if we let it! So….in the eyes of the patient Chinese, Trump must go! But at what cost? A few million? A few billion? A trillion dollars? Who owns these media sources? Who owns our politicians? Who would benefit the most from the collapse of the US economy? Who would benefit most with Trump being taken out of office? How many of these questions can be answered with one word: China.

I am really tired that many of our elected officials are so entrenched, that there is no opportunity for new faces advocating new ideas. WE NEED TERM LIMITS. Am I the only person in the United States that wants to know how a poor politician becomes a millionaire? Barrack Obama had a net worth of less than $500 thousand when he ran for president. Today, his net worth is estimated at $135 million! His salary for 8 years as POTUS was $3.2 million before taxes! How did he get to $135 million?

I am tired of the fact that our nation is so self-absorbed, that we, as a people, are too ignorant to recognize that we have enemies in the world. We have become the ‘me first’ individuals, rather than the ‘us together’ country.

I am tired of the fact that we may lose our democracy, because we allowed an election within our country with bushels of ballots being sent in the mail without verification if qualified voters actually received them. We allowed ballots to be counted that could not be substantiated. We allowed ballots to be counted that were post-marked after the election date. We allowed 38 states to count ballots with the use of a computer program that was developed outside the US; whose original purpose was to create ballot fraud, to sway the outcome of elections in foreign countries. Did we just become one of these ‘foreign countries?’ Apparently, some people think so as there are over 1500 sworn affidavits attesting to observing voter fraud. For once, I would like our bureaucracy to meddle in the form of the FBI and the DOJ. What did either do? I believe it was Stalin who said, “It’s not the vote that counts, it’s who counts the votes.”

We, as Americans, have two choices. The first is, how long are we going to tolerate the government at all levels to control our lives. Businesses closed. Schools closed. Churches closed. But you still go to Walmart and Target. I believe that the pandemic has shown bureaucracy gone amok in many areas.

The second decision is for us to recognize the threat that we have to our democracy, and what we need to do about it. We will not have honest and fair elections until some election officials are arrested for being dishonest and unfair. We will not have a fair and honest election until we prohibit, and un-elect those politicians who are taking huge sums of foreign monies to maintain power. That issue would disappear if we had term limits, so that 40 year entrenched politicians would begin to do what is ‘right for America,’ than what is right for a foreign power or lobbyist or themselves.

It is up to you, America! I’m tired. Time for a nap. But please decide what you want. The clock is ticking for us and future generations. The Chinese are patient.

Prisoner Closeout Sale: 5 for 1!

There is not one former or present member of the military who does not have an opinion about Bowe Robert Bergdahl.

As you are probably aware, Bergdahl was the last missing soldier in the war in Afghanistan.  His release from Taliban captivity was a result of the White House exchanging  five Taliban detainees that were held since 2002 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  You notice that I said that the White House was responsible for this exchange, as apparently none of the members of Congress were notified before releasing the five Taliban prisoners.  This is supposedly required by law, but it is certainly not the first time this administration has circumvented the law.  The required procedure was to notify Congress 30 days before the exchange.  This did not happen.

All the White House wanted was a huge, widely publicized photo opportunity with Bergdahl’s parents that would give all of America a warm, fuzzy feeling.    ‘Look what we did.  We got an American fighting soldier released after a five year captivity!’  What the White House got was an unanticipated firestorm.

Young Bowe Bergdahl had a non-conventional upbringing.  He was homeschooled.  He received a GED certificate through the College of Southern Idaho by the time he was in his early 20s.  As an adult, Bergdahl studied and practiced fencing and martial arts before switching to ballet classes at the Sun Valley Ballet School in Ketchum, Idaho.  He never owned a car.  He rode his bicycle everywhere.  He spent time in a Buddhist monastery between 2007 and 2008.

He joined the Army in 2008, and he was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division.  He was described as a  ‘focused loner’ by his fellow platoon members.  He told a fellow soldier before their pending deployment to Afghanistan, “If this deployment is lame, I’m just going to walk off into the mountains of Pakistan.”

Apparently, Private Bergdahl did exactly that.

It is obvious in emails that he sent to his parents that he had become disillusioned by Army life in general and with his deployment to Afghanistan in particular.  In part, one of his emails read, “The system is wrong.  I am ashamed to be an American.  And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools…….. I am sorry for everything here.  These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid, that they have no idea how to live………..There are a few more boxes coming to you guys.  Feel free to open them, and use them.”  According to a fellow soldier, those boxes contained Bergdahl’s computer and other possessions.

Bergdahl went missing on the night of June 30, 2009,  five days after sending that email.

A Pentagon investigation in 2010 concluded that there was “incontrovertible” evidence that Bergdahl walked away from his unit.  Bergdahl wrote emails to his parents that he was both disillusioned by the war effort and bothered by the treatment of the Afghan people by American soldiers.  According to The New York Times, a military investigation revealed that on the night he went missing, he left a note in his tent that said he was leaving to start a new life.  The letter said that Bergdahl wanted to renounce his citizenship.  However, according to Senator Saxby Chambliss, the White House said that there was no note during a meeting with Congress on the release of Bergdahl.

Are you beginning to see the inconsistencies in the accounts of this event?  The White House says there was no note expressing his desire to renounce his American citizenship, but The New York Times says that there was indeed such a note.  Hmmmm.  Senator Chambliss said that there was no note during the meeting with Congress, but numerous legislators have indicated that Congress was not notified of the five Taliban detainees being exchanged.  Double Hmmmm.

After Bergdahl’s capture by the Taliban, there were numerous propaganda videos released.  One of these shows Bergdahl helping the Taliban with bomb-making and infantry tactics.  The Pentagon dismissed this as Taliban propaganda.

The military made numerous attempts to locate Bergdahl.

CNN has reported that, according to soldiers involved in the operations to find Bergdahl, at least six soldiers were killed.  A spokesperson for the Pentagon has said that it is impossible to confirm whether anybody’s death was directly linked to the search for Bergdahl.

So after much negotiating over an extended period of time, on May 31, 2014, Bergdahl was released by his captors.  The release was brokered by the American, Qatar and Afghanistan governments with the Taliban in exchange for the five Guantanamo detainees.  These detainees are to be in Qatari custody for at least one year.

Here is another inconsistency with this story.  The Afghan government has indicated they did not know about the five Taliban detainees being released!  Who are these detainees?  The names are not important but their positions are.  They are the Taliban army chief of staff, a Taliban deputy minister of intelligence, a former Taliban interior minister, and two other senior Taliban figures.  Holy crap!   No wonder the Afghan government is upset!

It is obvious that no notice was given to Congress.  So the White House response?  When President Obama signed the bill, he released a signing statement saying that the restriction interfered with the president’s executive power as commander-in-chief.  The White House released a statement acknowledging that the release of the Guantanamo prisoners did not comply with the law but cited the president’s signing statement, and ‘unique and exigent circumstances’ as justification.  Doesn’t the law apply to everyone?  Even the POTUS?  A year ago, Jay Carney (then spokesperson for the White House) had assured the press that the decision to free Bergdahl would only be made after consulting Congress, in accordance with said law.

In addition to circumventing the law in this entire matter, the White House has been accused of ‘negotiating with terrorists.’

But in true White House cover-up fashion, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that the release should be considered a ‘prisoner of war exchange’ since the Taliban Five were members of the government of a sovereign state, and that, “We didn’t negotiate with terrorists.”

Did you hear that?   Especially all those military members who have served in Afghanistan?  Those people shooting at you where not terrorists!  Those roadside bombs were just fireworks gone awry!  Those Taliban guys were just the product of a bad childhood!  OH MY GOD!  I am going to have to look in my Hammond Atlas of the World for the country of Talibanistan!  A sovereign state?  Their sovereign state is any country in which they can displace the existing government and impose their will!

Time Magazine has published an article stating that the Taliban are “not really a ‘terrorist’ enemy as we commonly understand the word.”  What exactly does that mean?  They shot at you.  They try to kill you.  They consort with other terrorist groups that try to inflict as much carnage on America as possible.  Exactly what would make the Taliban ‘not really a terrorist enemy’?

I have a theory as to why the White House did an exchange for Bergdahl.

Firstly, what mother does not want her son returned from a war zone.  This is understandable.

Secondly, I believe that the White House is attempting to be proactive in the eyes of the military after the fiasco at Benghazi.  White House inaction needlessly resulted in the deaths of heroic Americans.  ( I appreciate that Secretary of State John Kerry offered, then recanted his offer to be questioned about Benghazi by a Congressional committee.  He was not the Secretary of State at the time.  It was Mrs. William Jefferson Clinton.)

Thirdly, I believe that the White House really thought that their actions concerning Bergdahl would bring a myriad of accolades and positive publicity upon the administration before the midterm elections.  That has not worked well for them.  They should have consulted the Pentagon before trying to turn this event into a media frenzy.

Lastly,  I believe the POTUS wanted to take a step toward closing Guantamo.  This was one of his first term campaign promises.  Hopefully, he did not intend to reinforce the Taliban.

What about Bowe Bergdahl?

Well, Sgt. Bergdahl (promoted after capture) is somewhere between European military and American military hospitals being evaluated for his physical and mental condition.

His ‘hero welcome’ parade and reception have been cancelled in his home town in Idaho, supposedly for security purposes.

The White House is under fire concerning this situation and is attempting to do the ‘back pedal shuffle.’  Jay Carny, the White House press secretary, has suddenly resigned.

The military has already concluded that Bowe Bergdahl willingly left his post in Afghanistan.  He is a deserter.  If they determine that he is directly responsible for the deaths of other servicemen attempting to rescue his sorry ass, I know of five vacated cells in Guantamo Bay, Cuba.

We are not done hearing about Bowe Bergdahl, or the Taliban Five any time soon.

PS  Since writing this blog on D-Day, there is an unsubstantiated rumor that the US government exchanged prisoners, and paid monies for Bergdahl’s release.  One Taliban leader has already indicated that his organization intends to kidnap more Americans, because he did not know that ‘they were worth so much.’  Do you think any ‘common sense’ was utilized in the handling of this situation?